Philip Bath (FRCP DSc FMedSci) is Stroke Association Professor of Stroke Medicine and Head of Academic Stroke at the University of Nottingham, an Emeritus National Institute of Health Research Senior Investigator, and a consultant stroke physician at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. He was the UK Stroke Association’s Keynote Lecturer in 2015, the International Stroke Conference William M Feinberg Award Lecturer for Excellence in Clinical Stroke in 2016, and received the President’s Award for Research from the British Association of Stroke Physicians in 2019. Prof. Bath’s research interests relate to acute blood pressure management and antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, treatment of post-stroke dysphagia, and prevention of cognitive decline and vascular dementia. He has >450 publications. He was Chief Investigator of the TAIST (Lancet 2001), ENOS (Lancet 2015), STEPS (Stroke 2016), TARDIS (Lancet 2018) and RIGHT-2 (Lancet 2019) multicentre phase III randomised controlled trials; he has also led many single-centre phase I and II trials, and chaired other Trial Steering Committees or Data Monitoring Committees. He coordinates international collaborations on acute stroke blood pressure management; and optimising the design and analysis of trials in acute stroke, stroke prevention, and cognition. He also facilitates preclinical studies of stroke interventions.

Dr. Jennifer E. S. Beauchamp is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Cizik School of Nursing in the Department of Research. Dr. Beauchamp graduated with a PhD in 2011 and a MSN in Clinical Research Management in 2005 at the Cizik School of Nursing. Dr. Beauchamp is the Lead Investigator of the University of Texas System Health Biobank (UTSHB) Consortium. Under Dr. Beauchamp’s leadership, biobanking efforts are expanding and speeding scientific discovery and translation across eight large academic research and clinical institutions within the University of Texas System. Dr. Beauchamp’s community research and dialog will continue to influence informed decision making about genetic biobanking research and the development of interventions that are meaningful for the stakeholder. Dr. Beauchamp is generating evidence in biobehavioral determinants of health by targeting neuropsychiatric health to improve health and symptom outcomes for those living within the confines of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. Dr. Beauchamp leads the Mental Health Program of the UTHealth Stroke Institute. Dr. Beauchamp emphasizes the importance of developing effective behavioral interventions, supports, and therapies so that we can improve the management, education and support services for stroke survivors and their informal caregivers.

Sarah Belson International Development Manager World Stroke Organization BA Hons Sociology, MSc International Development Studies Sarah has worked with the WSO for 6 years. She leads the stroke support organization development programme. Sarah facilitates knowledge exchange, networking and skills development for the WSO’s stroke support organization membership. Sarah has 25 years’ experience working in community development, and health and social care in the UK and internationally, and has worked in countries including Sudan, Indonesia, Myanmar and China. In the health sector, Sarah has previously supported community responses to HIV prevention and care, the implementation of the UNICEF Facts for Life programme and youth mental health and well-being programmes. At the WSO, Sarah has helped to grow the stroke support organization membership, and in particular has focused on outreach to stroke advocates in sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Sarah was involved in the development of WSO’s Advocacy Toolkit and the online platform for WSO members, Stroke Connector. In 2021 Sarah worked with the SSO Committee to map all SSOs known to WSO globally, and the accompanying report included recommendations for ongoing capacity strengthening of these patient and advocacy organisations as key contributors to improving stroke care across the world.

Professor Bernhardt has worked with stroke patients for over 30 years. She co-heads the Stroke Theme at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Australia, leading a research team developing and testing interventions to improve stroke recovery. She is Director, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Centre of Research Excellence in Stroke Recovery, and a world leader of multi-country rehabilitation trials (eg AVERT, AVERT DOSE). She led two international Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtables that set new research standards, culminating in development of the new International Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Alliance (ISRRA) in 2020. Julie is a strong advocate for Women in Science.

I am a pediatric stroke neurologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania and have been a member of the International Pediatric Stroke Study since 2008. During my post-doctoral fellowship, I completed my Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology. I have been involved in numerous multicenter collaborations studying pediatric stroke with a focus on measurement tool validation and outcome predictors. I was co-director of the imaging core for the GAMES-RP clinical trial that evaluated IV glibenclamide for malignant edema after malignant anterior circulation stroke in adults. Most recently, I led two multinational studies through the IPSS to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 as a risk factor for pediatric stroke. I am on the editorial board of Stroke and Pediatric Neurology and am chair of the International Pediatric Stroke Organization's Outcomes Working Group. Peer-reviewed work has been published in JAMA Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Neurology, Stroke, and Pediatric Neurology, among other journals.

Geert Jan Biessels obtained his PhD in 1997 at Utrecht University, registered as a neurologist in 2004, and was appointed Professor of Cerebrovascular Disease and Cognition in 2012. His area of expertise is vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and small vessel disease (SVD), focusing on novel imaging markers to improve diagnosis and prognostication and to identify targets for personalized treatment and the role of diabetes. Professor Biessels is actively involved in several national and international VCI and SVD research networks, including STRIVE and HARNESS. He leads the Dutch Heart Brain Connection consortium and the international Meta VCI Map consortium (https://metavcimap.org/). He was Principal Investigator in two large randomized controlled trials in diabetes with cognitive outcomes. He participates in the H2020 programs SVDs@target and Recognised. Professor Biessels has mentored over 40 PhD students and has over 350 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Dutch Research Council Vidi and Vici laureate and received the senior investigator award of the European Stroke Organisation in 2015.